- Blade Liger 2013 Blu-Ray BOX Limited Ver.

Release Date: August 2013 Retail Price: 57,540 yen (tax included)

- Official Photos

- Blade Liger 2013 Blu-ray BOX Ltd Ver. Review

Number of Pieces: 613 | Number of Frames: 44 | Additional Figures: Van, Fiona, Zeke

This unique model kit was released only with the Limited Edition version of the Blu-Ray Box Set. It featured unique art of the Blade Liger and came with other extras of the set which you can read about here. The kit is cast in entirely translucent plastic. The only solid pieces at all are the metal springs that go around the leg pipes. Even the teeth and cylinders are clear! Aesthetically it's a striking appearance if you like holotech Zoids.

There is that ever nagging question of quality, though. The HMM Blade Ligers have always been troublesome kits with tons of loose parts, fragile pieces, and frustrating assembly. These problems are still present in this liger, and some people have reported brittleness (which isn't surprising for any translucent HMM kit, given the tiny pieces they deal with.)

This Liger can be found seperately for $50-$150 on Yahoo Japan, as a lot of people who bought the blu-rays chose to sell it on. Please be aware that the book and Blu-Rays are packaged seperately. This Liger won't come with any of the other set extras if bought with just the kit.

Pros:
-Unique colors and the first entirely clear Koto Zoid released
-New unique box art

Cons:
-Likely to become extremely brittle with age
-Tons of loose parts and gluing involved

Gimmicks

- Canopy

The canopy flips open at the top. The assembly that it is attached to has a bad habit of popping off if the head is not secure.

- Face Fins

These are the bane of every Blade Liger. They are attached to a rotating bar on the inside but the pegs that attach the individual fins are less than 0.5mm in width. They are prone to breaking and are not strong enough to handle the tension of the moving part. They are supposed to move forwards and backwards a little.

- Shield Generators

This piece on top of the head and the piece on the throat flip forward. The throat piece moves further forward than it probably should, but hey, no complaining about more mobility than is necessary. The pieces on the top of the head are attached to the same loose assembly as the cockpit.

- Jaws

The jaws are movable and full of stabby things. They open up as far as the bottom of the mane will allow them to, and look pretty good.

- Boosters

The boosters on the back are covered by a clear blue piece that rotates seperately from the rest, allowing the boosters to be ended from the back. They are set on a rotational piece that allows them to spin 360 when deployed. A small bar in the middle allows further extension.

- Laser Blades

More blades! Cast in clear gold these look just stunning on this glowing Blade Liger. I didn't notice them being particularly brittle although the triangular connection at the side is prone to coming loose. It can be glued without hindering movement. The blades can rotate towards at the side, which will show a piston folding out. Sometimes the pistons are too shortand fall loose from each other, which is a pain to reassemble.
Otherwise the Blades can rotate forwards over the shoulders, or backwards over the back. When on the back there are two added 'stands' on the blue tail fins that holds the barrels. They don't rest very securely, since the blades always wanna stick upwards a bit, but it's a nice detail. The blue circular part that connects the black blade piece to the side arm allows them to rotate forwards and backwards.

- Vents

These pieces on the sides of all four legs are movable. They are set on a unique setting that allows them to rest in place normally. Because they are thick, in the normal position they cannot fully extend forward, so this unique assembly allows them to move further back which gives them the necessary space to set flat on the sides.

- Front Leg Articulation

The shoulder joints can rotate very far, although the white pieces of the armor tend to get in the way of the blades moving. The elbow also has a good range of motion. The top shoulder assembly of all four legs is prone to popping off so try to avoid putting pressure on it.

- Rear Leg Articulation

The rear legs are sectioned into three parts, all with a good range of motion. They share the problem with the shoulder armor coming off, and even after adding clear coat to make the joints thicker the rear legs popped off constantly. On top of that the entire assembly that holds them into the body was prone to coming undone, and in the end had to be glued.

- Paw Articulation

The paws of the Blad Liger are on a peg that allows them to tilt sideways a bit. The joint that it is attached to can also rotate up and down a bit and each claw is independently articulated to be able to curve into a more natural grabbing motion.

- Tail

Blade Liger's tail doesn't bend much. It is the tail pieces themselves that are bent and allow the curve. The individual sections are attached by pegs and can only rotate. I also noticed the tail itself comes off a lot, but since all the other pegs can be rotated seperately it is ok to glue it to the base.